


we're lovers and we're losers

by bloodyhalefire



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Jealous Eddie Kaspbrak, Love Confessions, M/M, Oblivious Eddie Kaspbrak, POV Stanley Uris, eddie proceeds to scream a lot, like that's it thats the whole thing, the losers club sit eddie down and are like dude.....ur in love with richie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27462808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodyhalefire/pseuds/bloodyhalefire
Summary: They’re all scattered around Stan’s living room: Bev is sitting with Ben on one end of the couch—she’s sandwiched between his body and the arm of the couch, Ben’s arm around her shoulders—while Bill is spread out at the other end shoving chips into his mouth with his eyes glued to the television. Eddie is sitting on the floor and leaning against the chair that Mike and Stan have somehow both managed to fit themselves on. And Richie? Well.Richie’s on a date with Mandy Phillips from their history class.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Audra Phillips, Eddie Kaspbrak & The Losers Club, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Mike Hanlon/Stanley Uris, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 136





	we're lovers and we're losers

**Author's Note:**

> title from “i knew prufrock before he was famous” by frank turner
> 
> im kinda proud of this, so i hope you enjoy it <3

They’re all scattered around Stan’s living room: Bev is sitting with Ben on one end of the couch—she’s sandwiched between his body and the arm of the couch, Ben’s arm around her shoulders—while Bill is spread out at the other end shoving chips into his mouth with his eyes glued to the television. Eddie is sitting on the floor and leaning against the chair that Mike and Stan have somehow both managed to fit themselves on. And Richie? Well. 

Richie’s on a date with Mandy Phillips from their history class. 

“I wonder how Richie's date is g-going,” Bill asks randomly, effectively breaking the silence. Stan turns to glare at him only to be met with the side of his face; Bill’s eyes are still glued to the television. But going by the small smirk on his face, Stan is willing to bet he knows exactly what he’s doing. 

“I’m sure he’s having a great time,” he hears Eddie snap, and when he looks over Stan realizes he’s fucking _moping._ And that’s the final straw. 

“I can’t handle this anymore,” Stan blurts as he jumps up from his place next to Mike. “Eddie, we have to tell you something.”

At his words, the rest of them scramble out of their seats—sans Bill, who simply shifts his eyes from the television to look at him, still shoving chips in his mouth—and stare at Stan. 

“No. Stan. No,” Mike says in a soft and placating tone. “We promised we wouldn’t say anything. Eddie needs to figure it out on his own.”

“I agree with Stan,” Bill adds, and his interjection is almost inaudible bc of his full mouth. 

Ben opens his mouth. “I agree with Mike-“

“And _I_ agree with Stan too,” Bev cuts her boyfriend off. “I can’t handle this anymore either. It’s painful. I mean, look at him.” All of them turn as she gestures at Eddie’s entire being as if it’s personally offended her. Eddie seems confused yet indignant about it, but Stan feels like it’s entirely deserved. 

“But you guys,” Ben tries again, “c’mon, we all _talked_ about this-“

“Talked about what!” Eddie yells, “I’m literally right fucking here!”

Stan ignores him. “No, no no. I can't take it. I am going to tell Eddie for the good of the group,” Stan says loudly. Then he thinks for a second and adds, “and for the good of me and Bev’s mental health.”

Bev smiles in agreement before saluting. “Oh,” she nods in Bill’s direction, “and Bill’s.”

“Amen,” Bill mutters as he holds out the bowl of chips to her. She grabs a handful with a smile. 

Mike frowns at the latter half of his announcement before he leans in and whispers, “how do you think me and _my_ sanity feel, sweetheart. You, Bev, and Bill may be struggling, but how do you think me and Ben feel? At least Richie is actually aware of his feelings.”

Stan pointedly ignores the way his stomach flips at the pet name. “Why do you sound so upset about Richie’s date?” Stan asks. 

“I am _not_ upset,” Eddie says; Stan raises an eyebrow at him. “I’m just not happy about it though?”

“And why might that be, Eddie?” Bev asks. Stan can hear the smile in her voice. 

“I don’t want someone new to join the group,” Eddie stresses, “if he starts going out with what’s-her-name then there will be someone new! We don’t want someone new. We don’t _need_ someone new.”

Stan whips his head around to look at Bill, who seems like he’s trying to hold back a laugh. “Is that all?”

“Of course it is,” Eddie answers grumpily. 

“Does that m-mean you have a problem with me a-and Audra?”

Eddie blinks, causing the laugh Bill that has been trying to hold back to tear out of him. 

Then Eddie starts scrambling to assure Bill that he has absolutely no problem with his girlfriend, that they’re very cute together and that she’s not even in the group anyway, and at this point they’re all laughing. 

Eddie huffs. “Fuck you guys. That’s not the problem.” He drops onto the chair and crosses his arms angrily. 

And by this point Stan wants to rip his hair out because _how_ could someone as smart as Eddie be this fucking stupid. He opens his mouth to say something before he feels Mike—who, like Richie, unfairly got super fucking tall after they all started high school—wrap his arm around Stan's shoulders and pull him close. “Well how do you feel about in-group dating?” Mike asks with a kind and gentle smile, but Stan can tell there’s more than a little bit of teasing in his voice. 

“I don’t care about that either, guys, you know that! Bill liked Bev when we were younger and they had their weird we’re-dating-but-not-dating thing, and now she’s with Ben and you’re with Stan! Why would I have an issue with that? What the fuck?” Eddie screeches. 

“Are you actually starting this by planting the idea of in-group dating into his head?” he whispers as he looks up at Mike; the only answer he gives to Stan is a shrug and a blinding smile. “Okay, we’re glad to hear that,” Mike says, _“now_ we have something to tell you.” 

Eddie raises an eyebrow, obviously still annoyed. “Finally,” he mumbles. 

“Eddie, sweetie,” Bev takes over in a tone that oddly reminds Stan of a doctor telling someone their loved one had died. “You’re in love with Richie.”

There’s a quick flash of fear in the boy's eyes before he lets out a forced, incredulous laugh. “No way. Absolutely not.”

“Answer me one thing first. What's Richie’s favorite color?” 

They all look at her funny for the random question, but for some reason Eddie doesn’t find it weird at all. 

“It’s red,” Eddie says immediately, before continuing in the same breath, “he always says it’s black, but I know that he only says that because he likes wearing black clothes, which makes absolutely no sense if you really think about it, because the color clothes you like to wear and your favorite color aren’t mutually exclusive so there’s-“

“Okay Eddie, we get it,” Ben cuts him off gently when it becomes apparent that Eddie has no intention of stopping. 

Bev smirks. “You pay very close attention to Richie.” The words make Eddie's face go so red that Stan's worried he’s gonna pass out or something. “So, what’s _my_ favorite color?”

“Why the fuck would I know that?” Eddie asks with a disbelieving laugh. “That’s the kinda shit you ask your friends when you’re, like, seven.”

They all stare at him silently for a minute. “Fuck!” he screams. 

Stan jumps at the sudden noise, and he probably would’ve fallen flat on his ass if Mike's arm wasn’t still around his shoulders. 

“Got s-something to share with the c-class, Eddie?” Bill drawls. 

“Fuck,” Eddie says again. “I’m in love with Richie.”

“Fucking finally.” Stan throws his hands in the air. “I was about to lose it.”

“So all of you knew _and just never told me?”_ Eddie screams. Again. 

“In our defense, we thought it would be better to let you figure it out on your own,” Ben says. 

“Actually,” Bill objects, "only M-Mike and Ben that th-thought it would be b-better. Me, Stan, and B-Bev wanted to tell you.”

“But you guys are supposed to be on my side,” Eddie stresses at Ben and Mike. “Wait! The two of you are in-group dating too! That’s _another_ reason you should have told me!”

Stan opens his mouth to defend Mike, but before he can say anything Eddie's eyes widen and his expression crumples. “Oh,” he says in a quiet voice, turning his attention to the floor. 

They all stare at him for a minute, a little thrown by Eddie's drastic shift in emotion. It’s Stan that eventually breaks the silence. “What is it?”

“You didn’t tell me because Richie doesn’t love me back. That’s why you didn’t want me to know,” he looks back up at them, and there are now tears freely running down his cheeks. Stan feels more than hears Mike’s breath hitch at the completely _devastated_ look on Eddie’s face. 

“Eddie,” Mike starts, “that’s not it-“

“Of course that’s it!” he screams. The part of Stan that’s not frozen in shock and helplessness wonders how Eddie still has his voice anymore, considering how much screaming he’s done in the past hour or so. “Richie’s always going on dates! He’s literally on one right now!”

Eddie looks like he’s about to start panicking before none other than Richie fucking Tozier slams open the door.

Richie stops dead in his tracks as he tries to take in the scene in front of him. Stan winces as he thinks about what he’s probably seeing: all of them basically surrounding a crying Eddie. It probably looks like they’re ganging up on him or something. Shit. 

Stan turns back to Eddie. He's looking at Richie reverently, but his eyes are a little bloodshot from the crying. “Richie,” Eddie breathes. 

Richie doesn’t seem to notice the disgustingly lovesick expression on Eddie’s face (and honestly, how the _fuck_ had it taken Eddie so long to realize he loved Richie), seeing as he’s practically tripping over himself in his haste to get to Eddie. Richie cups his face in his hands and tilts his head up and to the sides gently as if checking for damage or something. “Are you okay, Eds?” Richie asks urgently. 

“He's fine, it’s-“ Stan tries to explain. 

Richie cuts him off, still not taking his eyes off Eddie. “Are you hurt? Do you need anything?”

“Rich,” Eddie says with a soft smile, “I'm fine.” 

Richie practically deflates in relief as he turns his back to Eddie and looks at the rest of the group, no doubt missing the pout on Eddie’s face when he lets go of his cheeks. “Sorry about that guys,” he says bashfully. Stan genuinely cannot recall a single time he has _ever_ seen an expression like that on Richie’s face. 

Bev snorts as she and Ben return to their previous position on the couch with Bill, who _still_ hadn’t gotten up. “No hard feelings, Rich. We get it.”

Mike nods in agreement as he pulls Stan just a tiny bit closer to his chest. Stan tries not to smile. 

“How was y-your date with Mandy Phillips?” Bill asks, and numerous things happen at once—Richie shoots him a deadpan stare, Eddie's face falls, Ben and Mike sigh, and Bev snorts. 

_That’s it,_ Stan thinks, _if I hear one more person say that Bill Denbrough is "such a good kid” then I’m going to fucking lose it._

“It was fine,” Richie answers slowly, squinting at Bill; Stan can’t blame Richie for being skeptical of the question considering Bill, along with himself and Bev, know damn well the only reason Richie went on that Mandy in the first place—as well as all the others he’s been going on lately—is Richie’s god awful way of coping with his feelings for Eddie. “We had a great time.”

“That’s n-nice, Rich,” Bill says with a smile. 

“Aw, don’t be jealous,” Richie teases, all traces of suspicion and annoyance gone as he reaches forward and pinches Bill's cheeks. “While I will admit, my dear Billiam, that I gave her the whole Richie Tozier experience, I swear on Eddie's mother’s not-yet-existing grave that you’re still the only man for me.”

“Beep, beep, Richie,” Eddie whispers from behind him; his voice is wavering. 

“Why, Edward Kaspbrak, don’t tell me you’re jealous, too,” Richie says with a goofy smile as he turns around to look at him. “I-“

His voice cuts off when he sees Eddie's expression. Richie hurries back up to him, cupping his face in his hands and tilting his head up exactly like he had done when he first got here. “Eds, I thought you said everything was okay.”

Stan knows that they should probably give them privacy, but seeing as the other three haven’t made a move to leave—even _Ben_ appears to be transfixed—he doesn’t feel as bad staying; Stan nudges Mike and leads them back to the chair they were sitting on earlier, burrowing into his side and grumpily putting Mike’s arm back around his shoulders when the other doesn’t make a move to. 

“Why are we getting comfortable?” Mike whispers. “Shouldn’t we give them some privacy or something.”

Stan scoffs quietly. “Of course not.” 

“But-“

“No,” Stan cuts him off firmly. 

Mike opens his mouth again, but before he can say anything they hear Eddie's voice and quickly turn their attention back to the pair. 

“I am,” Eddie’s whispering. 

“Drop the shit, Eds, of course you’re not okay,” Richie responds. “Now tell me what’s-“

“No that’s not it,” Eddie interrupts him, and his voice is still just as quiet as before. 

“Then what’s wrong?” Richie whispers; he sounds so desperate to help Eddie feel better. 

“You asked if I was jealous,” Eddie explains. “I am.”

Richie blinks. “You’re…”

“Jealous?” Eddie finishes for him. “Yeah, I am. I’m jealous of Mandy Phillips from history, of that guy you met at the arcade, of Cindy Wilson from your stupid art class, all of them. I’m jealous of all of them.”

“Jealous because you can’t get a date?” Richie asks incredulously, and it takes all of Stan's self control not to grab the nearest pillow and repeatedly hit his best friend until he has a concussion. Or hit _himself_ until he has a concussion. And, judging by Bev’s expression, she’s on the exact same page. 

Stan is honestly starting to feel like he’s watching some low-budget daytime soap opera right now. 

“No, you fucking asshole,” Eddie says, weakly shoving Richie away from him. There’s not a trace of bite in his tone. “Jealous of _them.”_

Richie looks confused. 

“Jesus Christ, Richie! I’m trying to say that I’m fucking in love with you, you asshole!” Eddie yells. 

Richie blinks. “What.”

“It’s fine if you don’t feel the same way.” Stan drops his head into his hands. “But I wanted to tell you. The rest of the losers told me that I love you earlier and it honestly made total sense and the more I think of it the more I realize I do and I just really love you I’m sorry-“

Eddie, who hadn’t even taken a single breath throughout his entire little speech, cuts himself off and wheezes. “So yeah.” He says weakly. “Do with that what you will, I guess.”

Richie is still practically catatonic, the only indication he’d even heard Eddie is the widening of his eyes. It’s only once Eddie's expression slowly shifts into one of disappointment that Richie seems to come back to himself. He grabs Eddie's head and smashes their lips together with enough force that they stumble forward, causing Eddie’s back to hit the wall. They’re not holding back at all, and so the rest of the losers are all just staring at them like they’re in a weird kind of trance. But then Eddie whimpers. 

“That’s it. Nope. Let’s stop this right here,” Stan says loudly. The two of them jump apart as if they’d somehow completely forgotten that they were in a room full of other people. 

“It’s actually a damn good thing you stopped us,” Richie drawls with that smirk he always has before he says something disgusting, “because honestly? I was about to take him right here.”

Despite expecting something along those lines, Stan still gags and says “Beep, beep, Richie” at the same time as Bev begins giving him a round of applause. 

“Shut up, Richie,” Eddie hisses, and the blush on his face somehow intensifies. “I hate you.”

Richie laughs before leaning down and whispering something in Eddie’s ear. None of them are close enough to hear what he’s saying, but whatever it is causes Eddie's breath to catch in his chest. 

Stan cringes; he can only imagine what Richie’s saying. “I wish I never helped you with this. You’re disgusting. We’re no longer friends. Get out of here.”

“But Stan,” Richie whines, “I wasn’t saying anything bad, I swear! I didn’t even tell Eddie that later I plan to-“

“No!” Stan screams, and he can hear Beverly laughing. He hates her. 

“Oh c'mon, Stan,” Bill chimes in teasingly, “d-don’t act so innocent. W-we all know that as s-soon as we leave that y-you and M-Mike are gonna-“

“No!” Stan screams again, and now _Bill_ is laughing. He hates him too. 

And even though Stan is staring at Richie, out of the corner of his eye he sees two smaller hands wrap around one of Richie’s. “But really, I was just telling Eddie that I love him too,” Richie says in such a serious tone that Stan is actually a little caught off guard. He shifts his attention to Eddie, who’s looking up at Richie with a smile that’s so incomprehensibly happy that Stan can’t help but smile too. 

“Anyway,” Richie says loudly as he leads Eddie back to the center of the room with everyone else; he sits down in front of the ottoman Bill’s feet are resting on and pulls a blushing Eddie onto his lap. “What’re we watching?”

Stan sighs and gestures to the now-black screen. “We were watching _Night of the Creeps,_ but then Eddie threw a fit over you being on a date and everything snowballed from there. So we are now watching absolutely fucking nothing.”

“Aw, Eddie baby,” Richie teases as he presses a wet kiss on Eddie’s cheek. “I’m flattered.”

Eddie shoves Richie, which does absolutely nothing. “Shut up, Trashmouth,” Eddie hisses. “Don’t let it go to your head.” 

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Richie responds in a tone that implies that he is _definitely_ letting it go to his head. Eddie tries to glare up at him, but his heart eyes completely ruin the effect. 

“Well _I_ want to watch _Star Wars,”_ Ben announces. Richie perks up at the suggestion. 

Beverly smiles and leans up to kiss his cheek. “You’re such a nerd.”

“If it’s anything other than _A New Hope_ or _The Empire Strikes Back_ then it’s a no from me,” Richie answers. 

Ben scoffs. “What kind of person do you take me for? I’m thinking _The Empire Strikes Back_ tonight.”

Stan watches Eddie and Beverly make eye contact while their boyfriends debate over _Star Wars_ and roll their eyes with matching fond smiles; he sees Bill take out his phone to text his girlfriend. Then he looks up at Mike, who’s already staring at him, and smiles. 

He can’t remember a time where he’s been happier. 

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you all enjoyed this and tysm for reading ❤️❤️
> 
> [my tumblr](https://mysticdevils.tumblr.com/post/640935074647474176/every-time-i-try-to-link-my-tumblr-in-the-end)  
> [my losers club playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3vRS04wty12cWRZ5Fdi2M1?si=0qy4fOoCRMGOGRU49xutfg)


End file.
